Governor David Paterson announced that Waterfront communities along the Hudson River will share in the award of $24.9 million in grants from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program,

Grant awards for 97 projects in every region of the state cover planning, design and construction of projects that focus on economic, community, environmental and recreational improvements.

Central Plains Water’s (CPW) proposed dam across the Waianiwaniwa Valley would be like a line of tower blocks extending 2km across the Canterbury countryside, a hearing has been told.

Landscape architect Di Lucas, who was giving evidence on behalf of the Malvern Hills Protection Society, produced a photo montage of the 55m-high dam based on the comparable height of the Forsyth Barr tower in Christchurch.

When you consider the carbon footprint of new construction, this city promotes growth and development policies that are wasteful, destructive, and myopic. Greens and historic preservationists need to find common cause in creating a truly sustainable urban landscape.

Foster + Partners is designing and then erecting, with the help of the public, a special installation to mark the launch of the 2008 London Festival of Architecture (LFA) on Saturday 21 June. Part of the LFA’s Kensington, Chelsea and Knightsbridge Hub, the structure will be constructed and dismantled on Exhibition Road in a single day.

The design will be revealed at the event and Foster + Partners is delighted to announce that the installation will incorporate a new eight channel site specific sound sculpture by artist Bill Fontana.

The temporary structure will rise to over ten metres in height, feature tensile components and involve public participation. Members of the public will be invited to assist between 10.00am to 12.00pm and then help to raise the structure at 2.00pm. Situated adjacent to Imperial College, visitors will be able to experience the interior of the installation and the specially commissioned sound piece until 6.30pm.

Bill Fontana lives and works in San Francisco, exhibits internationally and is represented in London by Haunch of Venison. He has spent more than thirty years creating installations that use sound to transform the visitor’s experience of art and architecture.

Landscape architects, who specialize in large scale land planning and design, are in demand around the globe, says LeBlanc, who launched his company, Ekistics Planning & Design of Dartmouth, about 12 years ago.

That demand spurred LeBlanc, 41, to start a separate company, Land Inc., about 18 months ago; it focuses solely on international projects. That company, which shares an office with Ekistics, is designing golf courses, resorts and even entire cities in countries such as China, Egypt and Morocco.